Jet packs were always going to be the future of transport, weren't they? I for one was looking forward to commuting through the ether alongside sundry pigeons and pterodactyl as soon as I saw James Bond taking off in his hair bleach-fuelled Bell Aerospace Rocket Belt 45 years ago in the film Thunderball.

The trouble is, the thrust needed to lift and propel a human body dictated maximum flight times of no more than 30 seconds. Safety, noise and cost were also major drawbacks in the development of the technology, which was first successfully trialled at the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, USA in 1952.

Another way of lifting humans is with ducted fans, a bit like the vertical take off and landing (VTOL) aircraft such as the Harrier. In January 1955, the vectored-thrust, ducted-fan prototype of the Hillier Flying Platform completed its first untethered free flight and it is this technology that is used on the Martin Jetpack, which is claimed to be the world's first practical jet pack.

The civilian version of the Martin is a 553lb, five-foot cube, with twin 1.7ft diameter Kevlar/carbon rotors powered by a 200bhp 2-litre, V4 petrol engine. It has a range of 31.5 miles travelling at 63mph and what appears to be an 8,000ft ceiling – should anyone be brave enough to go that high.

The price of £66,365 ($100,000) includes a parachute, retractable energy-absorbing undercarriage and a pilot harness, but not the mandatory two- to three-day training course, which is expected to cost between £1,330 and £2,000.

Although a production jet pack has not been completed yet, Martin says it has been overwhelmed by interest from around the globe. "There is not one currently in Blighty," said James Bowker, a simulation engineer for Martin Jet, "all the prototypes are currently in New Zealand.

"We are definitely considering export sales as the majority of the interest has been from overseas. Training and servicing will initially only be available in New Zealand, though we are looking at setting up distribution centres in the countries with the most demand."